


How The Science Husbands created The Science Family

by Zorro_sci



Series: The who, what, when, where, why and how of the science family [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bruce Feels, Domestic, Fluff, Kid!Fic, M/M, Science Family, Tony is very supportive, but he gets it in strange way, family fic, sometimes Bruce gets what he wants, with some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-08-01
Packaged: 2018-02-11 03:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2051658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zorro_sci/pseuds/Zorro_sci
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce always wanted to be a father, but he had given up hope long ago.  Then he married Tony and his husband told him that he was dead-set on giving Bruce the family he wanted.  Bruce was hesitant, but allowed himself to hope, and this is what happened . . . </p><p>(Follow up to "when science boyfriends became science husbands")</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

Bruce opened the bedroom door and peeked inside. He smiled as he saw the peacefully sleeping girl curled up in her bed, face framed on her pillow by her curly brown hair. Gently, he closed the door and then took a couple more steps down the hallway. 

Stopping in front of another door, he once again carefully opened it as silently as possible and peeked inside. On the other side of this door was a little boy, all floppy brown hair and tangled limbs, sleeping in a heap on a small bed with Captain America sheets. Despite his awkward-looking position he was fast asleep, so Bruce shut the door and once again headed down the hallway.

This time he paused in front of the door and listened. Then he swung it open even more carefully than the last two, as if he were trying to avoid even the tiniest noise. He stood in the doorway a moment listening, and then he carefully entered the room. He checked in one crib and then the other, verifying that both babies were sleeping soundly. Finally reassured that all was well, he re-entered the hall and moved to the door at the end of hall.

The room was still lit on the other side of this door, and his husband looked up at him smiling as he strode through the doorframe.

"Hey! What's the nightly report?" he asked.

"Everything's ready for school tomorrow, including the costume for the first grade play, and all the kids are asleep," Bruce relayed.

"You finished the costume?" He asked in interest.

"Yes . . .and before you ask, no, you cannot see it, Tony. Our daughter was very specific. She wants you to be surprised when you go to see the play tomorrow," Bruce answered, holding up a hand to stop the protest he knew was coming.

"But Bruce, you got to see it," Tony whined.

"That's because I'm the one who spent hours making it," Bruce shot back without any heat. "Believe me, she's your daughter. She had a very detailed and elaborate plan, lots of bells and whistles, and I did my best to make it work."

"I'm sure you did a great job. You always do. You're a great dad," the engineer reassured as he captured his husband in a hug and planted a kiss on his cheek.

 _A great dad_. The words struck Bruce. Sometimes he still couldn't believe the life he had now. 

Before this, before Tony, he had been used to not getting what he wanted, so he thought he would live out the rest of his days alone. It almost seemed like a dream that he would meet someone who he loved as much as he loved Tony, and who loved him back. Even after two years of marriage, he still sometimes could hardly believe that Tony was his husband. He felt so lucky to have found him. 

That said, despite Tony's assurance that they would adopt and become parents, Bruce hadn't held out much hope. He was sure there was too much working against them. So when Tony rambled excitedly about kids, or "being like the family VonTrapp, only with two dads and no Nazis," he reminded himself not to get his hopes up. 

He should have known that Tony would stop at nothing once he learned about Bruce's dreams of being a father. Though he doubted that even Tony could have foreseen the path that had led them to fatherhood . . . . . . .


	2. Not Recommended

After the interview where Bruce and Tony announced their engagement, the two men didn't talk about adoption again for nearly a year. Bruce was sure that Tony had forgotten about his statement that they would adopt a year after the interview, too caught up in being newly married. He was wrong. Nearly a year to the day after the announcement, Tony came waltzing into the lab with some official-looking papers.

"So I talked to my lawyers and they said that the adoption process usually takes six months to a year if everything goes well, which, why wouldn't it? So, I brought home the application so we could get started. I realize that best case scenario I'll be three to nine months late on trying to adopt by our first anniversary, but hey, the sooner we get the ball rolling the sooner things will start happening," Tony said without preliminary.

"Ah . . . " Bruce answered dumbly, unsure how to respond. They hadn't talked about this since before they were married, and now Tony was handing him an adoption application.

Tony stopped and stared when he realized Bruce was just standing there gaping at him.

"You do still want kids, right?" Tony asked in confusion.

"Well, yes, but isn't this kind of sudden?" 

"I don't think so. We talked about this. You clearly want to be a father, but you needed time. So I gave you time, and now I'm trying to help start the process, because like I said before Bruce, I know how much you want this. And you not being a dad, with all the love and guidance and other fatherly-stuff that you could give a kid, would be criminal."

Bruce stared at him. Part of him was touched, and part of him wondered how Tony could consider a ten minute conservation a year ago "talking about it."

"Okay, let's take the first step. Let me see the form."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple months after they submitted the form, a social worker came by their home to do an initial assessment of their "fitness to adopt." She searched all over the Tower, asked them a ton of questions, and when they were done she told them with a frown that she couldn't recommend them for adoption. 

She said their hero life-style was too unstable, and that the Hulk would not be a good role-model for a child. Then she went on to say that since the two of them were targets for super-villains it made any children in their lives targets too.

Tony argued that they were capable of protecting themselves and a child, and that the Hulk really was a good role-model. She apologized, but said she couldn't in good conscience clear them, and that she was sure any other social worker would feel the same. 

Turns out she was right. Tony appealed the process twice, and both of the other social workers denied them as well, (though the next two didn't say anything about the Hulk not being fit, only that their hero life-style was not stable enough for a child).

Bruce was heart-broken. He had tried not to let himself hope, because it would only hurt more if he did. He had tried to remind himself that a lot could go wrong, but on some level he had been looking forward to starting a family with Tony since their heart-to-heart in the elevator. 

After the third 'no' they had used all of their appeals, and they would have to look out of country to adopt. The problem was that the number of countries that allowed foreign, same-sex couples to adopt was limited, and those that did had long waiting periods and could easily turn them down for the same reasons.

Knowing the odds were stacked against them, Bruce felt despair creeping in on him. He should have known better. Of course no one would trust a monster like him with a child. He had been a fool to ever hope.

The day after their third rejection Bruce stayed in bed all day, too depressed to want to do anything. He knew he was worrying Tony, the engineer tried at least a dozen tactics to try to charm, bribe, or coerce the physicist out of bed, but he needed time alone to grieve. 

Part of him wondered why it came as such a blow. He thought he had already grieved not being able to be a father. Besides, shouldn't he just be grateful that he had Tony in his life instead of mourning over what he didn't have? Was he being ungrateful when he should be counting his blessings? Logically those things made sense. But practically they only made him feel worse, because if he was honest, he was devastated. Other than when he tried to kill himself, it was the lowest he had ever felt.

The following two weeks he left the bedroom for increasing periods of time, but his heart wasn't really ever in what he was doing. Tony noticed that he seemed to be going through his day on auto-pilot, and worried a little bit more. He knew how hard Bruce was taking this, but he felt helpless to do anything about it. He couldn't change things, and distracting Bruce wasn't very effective for long, if at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The morning of their first wedding anniversary came, and Tony woke Bruce with breakfast in bed.

"Happy Anniversary, honey," he called as he woke him. He leaned in for a kiss and then placed the tray of breakfast food in front of him.

"Happy annivesary," Bruce returned sleepily. He yawned and then eyed the food with suspicion.

"Did you cook?" He asked cautiously.

"Yes, but it's good. Try it!" Tony urged.

Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"Come on. I know I've made mistakes before, but I forced the rest of the team to eat like a bizillion breakfasts while I practiced just so I could do this for you. I wanted to to make sure it would be perfect," Tony explained earnestly.

Bruce put a measured bite on the fork, and carefully put it in his mouth.

"So?" Tony butted-in impatiently after a few seconds.

"It's good. Thank you, Tony," he said sincerely.

"Yes! I have mastered breakfast! Just give me a little longer and I'll be able to help with dinner too," he called triumphantly as he settled into the bed next to Bruce. Bruce chuckled and made room for Tony to sit next to him.

They chattered comfortably as they ate their breakfast. Bruce made sure to make several comments about how good the food was, (Tony seemed like he needed reassurance). More than once a sincere laugh fell out of Bruce's mouth, and Tony thought about how much he had missed that sound.

"Are you coming down to the lab today?" Tony asked in a worried tone that he tried to pass off as casual.

The words burst the happy bubble that Bruce had been in that morning, and his face clouded over.

"Maybe a little later," he responded non-commitmentally.

Tony frowned. Bruce had actually been smiling during their breakfast. He seemed happy for the first time in weeks, and just like that he was back to being miserable.

"Okay," Tony said in his same not-really-casual voice. "Hopefully I'll see you down there, but if not, don't forget that we have dinner reservations at your favorite restaurant tonight at eight. I'll meet you there because I have a board meeting beforehand."

Bruce nodded, and Tony considered leaving it at that, but he felt like he needed to say something more.

"Look, Bruce, I know this has been hard for you. And I know some of it's my fault, because I kept pushing even when you seemed ready to move on. But, I don't like seeing you so upset. It worries me to see you hiding away up here. I know going out was never your favorite, but I think it might be good for you to get out. Promise me you'll come?" 

"I'll be there, Tony. I promise."

The promise seemed less than enthusiastic, but it was something, so Tony made his way down to the workshop. 

Once he left, Bruce spent a while thinking about how his funk was now ruining their anniversary. He didn't like the sad, worried look he saw on Tony's face one bit, and he knew that he had put it there. He also didn't like that Tony was blaming himself for his depression. He needed to do something. It was their anniversary, and if only for one day he was going to pull himself together. He owed that to Tony.

Figuring that maybe a run would clear his head, he got out of bed and made his way to Central Park.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony checked his watch. It was 8:20 and Bruce still wasn't there. It wasn't like him to be late, so he pulled out his phone and dialed Bruce's number again. Like the time before it went to voicemail. 

Tony felt a stab of worry, but on its heels he felt annoyance because he figured that Bruce was probably still in bed blowing him off and refusing to answer his calls. Still, better to be sure. He needed more information, so he called JARVIS.

"J, has Bruce left yet?" Tony asked.

"He left this morning saying he had a lot of things to do. He has not returned since then," the AI intoned.

"Shit," Tony muttered. "How long ago did he leave?"

"Ten hours ago, sir. Would you like me to hack into the city traffic and security cameras to try and locate him?" JARVIS asked.

"Please. He's not here. Something might have happened," Tony answered. He kept his voice carefully steady and tried not to panic, or envision all of the terrible things that might have happened, or could still be happening, to his husband.


	3. Jane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING: kidnapping, non-graphic violence and threats of violence, mentions of past character death**

Bruce awoke on a cold cement floor. His head was pounding, and his vision swam when he opened his eyes. Not that there was much to see in the small, dimly lit cell.

"Who are you?" a small, scared voice called.

Bruce looked around, but he didn't see anyone. Just a small, empty cot, and a prison style sink and toilet. He must be hallucinating as an aftereffect of whatever drug they gave him.

"You aren't one of them, are you?" the shaky voice asked.

The voice was coming from near the floor, so Bruce stooped down and looked around. It was then that he saw the small, huddled figure under the cot. 

A child. A scared child if the trembling figure and voice were anything to go by.

"I'm Bruce," he replied. "And no, I'm not one of them. They brought me here."

"They must want something from you. They wanted something from my mom, so they came for her," the small voice, (belonging to a little girl?), said fearfully.

"Who are 'they'?" Bruce questioned. 

"I don't know, but they're bad men," the child whispered gravely. "They killed my mom when she wouldn't give them what they wanted. I was hidden in the closet. They were yelling, and when my mom said 'no' there was a bunch of loud bangs. I screamed, and then one of them pulled me out of the closet.

I tried to get away, but I couldn't. One of them said they should kill me, but another said I 'might be useful,' so they brought me here."

Bruce's heart broke as he heard the child's story. No child should have to go through that.

"I'm sorry," Bruce said, laying on his stomach so he was making eye contact with the two faint dots of light hidden under the cot. He knew that his words meant nothing in light of what had happened, but he knew he needed to say something.

"Adults are always saying they're sorry for things they didn't do and don't understand," the voice said bitterly.

Bruce thought a moment about how he should respond. The child under the bed seemed very precocious and had just lost their mother. He didn't want to be patronizing, but he knew he couldn't say nothing to the accusation.

"I might understand better than you think," he said gently.

"Really?" The voice cut in to scoff dubiously. "Did someone kill your mom in front of you?"

"Yes," Bruce said softly. "When I was seven a very bad man killed my mom. I saw everything."

The small figure crawled out from under the bed and stared at him with deep, honey-colored eyes. Her, (he could see that she was a young, slight, brown-haired girl now), pale face was filled with surprise. Her eyes searched his face as he shifted so that he was sitting on the floor, and she seemed to decide that he was being sincere, because she moved closer and sat in front of him with body language that seemed less fearful.

"I miss her so much," she confided, tears starting to fill her eyes. "Does it ever stop hurting?"

"No," Bruce said honestly. "But after a while it will hurt less, and it won't be the only thing you think about anymore."

She nodded, on the verge of letting the tears spill. Then she surprised him by leaning forward and hugging him. He uncertainly wrapped his arms around her as she started to sob into his shoulder, making gentle circles on her back with one hand. He tried to be comforting, making soft noises, and rocking the two of them slightly, but he felt very awkward.

When her tears stopped, she pulled back and studied his face again.

"You couldn't be one of them. You're a nice man," the girl said. "I like you, Bruce."

He smiled slightly, if somewhat strained given the circumstances. She returned the gesture.

"I like you too . . ." He paused as he realized he didn't know her name.

"Jane," she supplied.

"Jane," he repeated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What do you mean you can't figure out where he went?!?" Tony growled.

"The camera on 42nd Street shows him walking toward Central Park. Then all of the cameras go out for a five block radius for five minutes, and when the footage starts again Dr. Banner is gone, sir," JARVIS explained.

Tony's blood ran cold. Whoever did this had been planning; laying in wait for the right moment. This wasn't an amateur, they had tech that could take out several city block's worth of surveillance, and they clearly would do whatever it took to get what they wanted. He tried desperately not think about what that meant for Bruce.

"Call Fury," Tony instructed after assessing the situation for another moment. Despite his feelings about SHIELD, he was going to need all the help he could get.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce was roused from his sleep by the sound of cries and whimpers emanating from the cot. He looked over at the girl nestled under the scratchy blankets and saw her thrashing violently, clearly in the throes of a nightmare.

He was contemplating whether or not he should wake her when she sat up, breath coming out in pants, and looked around her in panic. Bruce quickly arose from his spot on the floor, and sat gently by her side.

"Bruce?" She asked softly, her tear-brimmed eyes searching through the darkness to try and identify the person next to her.

"Yes. I'm here, Jane," he said.

She clung to him as she had earlier, and once again cried on his shoulder. He held her close, feeling a little less awkward than he had the first time, but still far from certain of his actions.

"I'm scared," she whispered. 

"I'm going to take care of you, Jane. No one is going to hurt you. Not if I can do anything about it," he reassured. 

He wasn't exactly sure where the words came from, but there wasn't anything he seemed able to do to stop them from tumbling out of his mouth. Plus, they felt right and, he realized, he meant every word.

He may have only known her less than a day, but he had already grown very attached to Jane. Anyone who wanted to hurt her would have to get through him and Hulk first. He heard Hulk grumble his approval in the back of his mind.

Part of him was ready to Hulk-out right that moment, and break them both out of there. But he had no idea where they were, or what they were up against. All he knew was that his captors must know about the Hulk. If they didn't, they wouldn't have drugged him so heavily when they captured him.

No, despite his desire to leave as soon as possible, he would wait. He would gather all the necessary information and then make a plan. There was no use in being impulsive and possibly walking into a trap. Especially if it might endanger Jane.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning three heavily armed men entered the cell. Bruce immediately moved to stand between them and the still sleeping Jane. A fact that did not go unnoticed by their captors.

"I see SHIELD's file about you is right. You do have a huge soft spot for kids," the man sneered.

"What do you want?" Bruce replied levelly.

"Straight to the point, Dr. Banner. I like that. So we'll just lay it all on the table, shall we? 

We know about your 'other half' and we're prepared. We could pump you full of Hulk suppressants, but that would slow your thinking, and we want you for your brilliant mind. However, I don't think we'll need to worry, because all of the men here are armed with Hulk tranquilizers. Even if you do Hulk-out, one of them will drop you before you escape. And if you try to escape, we'll kill your little friend there nice and slow while you're down for the count. Same goes if you refuse to play ball, so what do you say? Can you play nice?" The same man, who seemed to be in charge, sneered.

Bruce had to carefully control his anger when they threatened Jane, but he managed. For now at least they had the upper hand, and keeping Jane safe was his top concern. He could be patient. He'd find a way out. He had to.

"What exactly is it that you want me and my mind doing?" Bruce asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, as you know, the person with the best weapons rules these days. Firepower is all well and good, but in a day and age where every terrorist group under the sun is blowing things up in spectacular fashion, sometimes a little subtly goes a long way. It creates more fear. More compliance. A biochemical weapon, say. Something silent, but deadly. An ever present threat, capable of causing mass casualties simply by being released into the air or water."

"You want me to make biochemical weapons for you?"

"Like I said before, you have two choices. Do as we say or, Hulk or no Hulk, the girl dies. And you do seem oh, so, very attached to her."

The man gave him a mocking looking and finished with a glare that dared him to say no.

"Okay. I'll do it," Bruce sighed.

Now he just needed to find a way to _look_ like he was doing what they wanted while he was really creating something no more harmful than dust or water. He sincerely hoped they didn't have any other scientists working for them. If anyone understood what he was doing, there would be a problem.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're sure it wasn't Ross that took Bruce?" Tony asked incredulously.

"Positive. Our team tracked him down. He's still obsessively looking for Dr. Banner, but it was clear he had no more idea where he was than we do," Director Fury answered.

"What about Stearns? Or that Abomination guy? Either of them might want revenge," Tony mused.

"Both of them are still located in their high security cells," Fury answered.

"So, then what do you know about whoever took Bruce?" Tony huffed impatiently.

"Finding information is proving difficult," the director replied evenly.

" _Proving difficult_? So let me get this straight. The super spy organization that tracked Bruce around the globe, the one that 'never lost him', and wouldn't ever let him be, despite numerous pleas that you just leave him alone, has now lost him the _ONE_ time your nosiness might actually pay off?!?" Tony yelled.

"Stark, I'm going to ignore the tone this time, but . . ." Fury started.

"But what!?! My husband is missing! Someone with the skill to plan a mid-daylight kidnapping in the middle of a crowded city, and apparently also evade SHIELD, took him! And now they're doing who knows what to him. Excuse me if I'm in no mood for bullshit!" Tony roared.

"I'll call you back with any new information," came the short reply before the call ended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce spent the next couple of weeks working in the lab by day and looking after Jane by night. He made sure she had enough to eat; even if it meant giving up some or all of his food. He talked with her about her life, (but never anything that would lead to the bad things that had happened recently), and interests to keep her from despairing. 

He learned that she was five and very smart for her age. She loved to look at the night sky, and knew all the constellations. She also liked to read, and learn about science.

He also comforted her after her nightmares. Nightmares were a nightly occurrence for Jane, but she always seemed to calm down when she knew that Bruce was with her. For his part, Bruce was learning how to calm her down more quickly and effectively. The awkwardness was gone now, and he knew just what to do and say.

In the lab he worked as slowly as he thought he could possibly get away with. Whenever they questioned him, he would say that meticulous testing was the way they were going to get the best results. That worked for a while, but eventually they grew impatient.

"Your progress has been too slow, Doctor. You'll need to speed up the process . . . Or else," the man in charge had threatened one morning when he came to collect Bruce from his cell and bring him to the lab.

He thought he heard a gasp behind him, but he couldn't have. Jane was still asleep.

In the lab, he worked to give the illusion he was making more progress, but it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to _look_ like he was creating a weapon without actually doing it. He knew they'd want to try testing it soon, so he was running out of time. He needed to get out, or make them a weapon that worked.

Later that night, while he was laying on the floor thinking over his next move, his thoughts were interrupted by a small voice from the cot.

"You're going to give the bad men what they want, aren't you?" She asked.

Bruce noted that her tone was pleading, not accusing. That was interesting.

"Do you think I should?" he asked, to check his theory.

"Yes," she said softly. "I heard them threaten you this morning. I don't want them to hurt you, daddy. They already killed my mom."

Bruce's eyes went wide. Had he heard correctly?

"Did you say?"

Jane went quiet for a minute. In the dimness he saw her shift to sit up on the cot and look at him with nervous eyes.

"Daddy," she repeated. "I hope you're not mad, but I've been calling you 'daddy' in my head. You just . . . You act like a dad. You take care of me. And you're there when I'm scared. And, I love you."

Bruce swallowed back the emotion that welled up in him, and said the only thing he could say, "I love you too, Jane."

And he did. He had more than once thought that this must be how it felt to be a father, the love and intensely protective feelings he felt for Jane, but he had pushed the thoughts out of his head. He had figured she just thought of him as nothing more than a nice adult. A man unlike the others holding her hostage. But now that he knew that she thought of him that way, he couldn't hide his feelings any longer.

"Can I call you daddy?" She broke into his thoughts.

"Yes," he said, trying not to let his voice sound choked, but he couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed.

She rushed over and hugged him tightly, and he returned the gesture.

"I've never had a dad before," she whispered as she snuggled against him. "It was always just me and mom. I would watch the other kids with their dads and imagine what mine would be like. But I never imagined a daddy as good as you."

Maybe it was her sincerity. Maybe it was realizing just how much he loved the little girl in his arms. Maybe it was both, but he couldn't stop a few tears from leaking from his eyes.

"Daddy, why are you crying?" Jane asked, when she notice the wetness on Bruce's cheek.

"I'm just happy. Happy I found you," he said quickly, trying not to think about how as happy as he was to be with her, he wished she never would have had to be there in the first place.

"Me too," she said quietly, snuggling tighter.

Then she asked Bruce questions about science until she fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce redoubled his efforts to create an escape plan. There was only so much more time he could buy. So under the guise of "looking for the bathroom", or "needing clean up supplies" or whatever other excuses he could think of, he wandered away from the lab to get an idea of the layout of the compound as much as he was able.

From what he could tell, the building was an old warehouse that had been repurposed with a jail cell, a lab, and some barracks for the men guarding them. It also appeared there were only a dozen men, much fewer than he had thought at first.

They seemed to take shifts, four guarding the outside of the building, four guarding the inside, one floating around, and three taking a break. He watched their rotations as best as he could, and finally, he came up with a plan. 

That night, after the meager amount of food that their captors gave them as dinner, Bruce decided to start with his plan.

"Jane, come over here and sit on my lap. I'm going to tell you about an important experiment I did once," he said loudly, playing to the guard, but not obviously.

Jane complied, and he leaned close and whispered in her ear.

"Make sure you don't say anything. That bad man is listening. But we're leaving tonight."

She turned to look at him with wide eyes that seemed to ask _How?_

"To get out, I'm going to have to do something that might seem kind of scary. Do you know who the Hulk is?"

She nodded. She had seen the news, and he had been mentioned a few times since the battle of New York.

"Well, he's me."

She gave him a disbelieving look.

"Really," he repeated. "So to get us out I need to change into him. I know he's big and scary, but he won't hurt you."

"He's not scary if he's you Daddy," she whispered back, her voice full of trust.

He nodded, and waited for the guard to walk out. He had noticed the guard that changed out in the evening frequently left a few minutes before his replacement came. This night was no different.

Seizing his opportunity, Bruce stepped back from Jane and willed the transformation. She stared at him with wide-eyes, but when she looked into Hulk's face she seemed comforted by what she saw. She didn't flinch or in anyway try to avoid him when he reached down to pick her up, and brought her protectively to his big, green chest.

Using a big shoulder, he broke down the wall, careful to keep Jane shielded from the debris. Then he leapt out of the building, surprising the outdoor guards, who tried to fire their tranquilizer guns, but were too shocked to fire with any accuracy.

Several powerful leaps later, and the low, stone building was well behind them. 

Hulk stopped briefly, and his green eyes swept over the little figured cradled in his muscular arms.

"Jane okay?" He said in a loud, but incredibly gentle voice.

Jane nodded, and Hulk went back to putting distance between them and their captors at the same brisk pace, just in case.

An hour later, he shrunk back into Bruce, (who thankfully was wearing a pair of the pants Tony had designed for him that shrunk back down to fit him), and wandered into the nearest town with Jane by his side, holding his hand.

They entered the twenty-four hour diner, and Bruce was able to convince the owner to let him use the phone, (despite his lack of a shirt in direct violation of their sign).

He dialed the number for the Tower, and the line was quickly picked up by a familiar voice.

"Hello?"

"Tony?"

"Bruce!"

He could hear relief coursing through his husband's voice, and he had to admit he was pretty relieved himself, but right now he need to get as far away from his captors as possible.

"Tony, I'm in Addyston, Ohio."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, but I need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks. And Tony, there's something we need to talk about when you get here."

He ended the call, and looked over at Jane, who was talking to the lady who owned the diner over at the counter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony hung up the phone in excitement. Bruce was okay! All he needed to do now was go pick him up.

He called the other Avengers and they loaded up into the Quinjet. The suit would have been a little faster, but Tony wanted to have back up just in case. He knew when Bruce said "as soon as possible" he meant that his former captors were probably still looking for him. With that in mind, not going alone seemed more important than the few minutes he could shave off by taking the suit.

Tony was all nervous energy during the flight. Sure, Bruce had escaped, but who knew what had happened to him in the last three weeks? And, what did they need to talk about? The words echoed ominously in Tony's mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce walked over to the counter to see a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Jane. 

"What'll you have?" the owner asked him as he approached.

"I don't have any money," Bruce said sheepishly. The men who had held him had taken everything except the clothes on his back, (and his wedding ring, which he was grateful they had decided to let him keep), and Hulk had managed to shred all of those minus his pants.

"I figured as much, honey. No offense, but you and your little girl look like you've been living in a hole in the ground. I figured somehow you came into hard times, so it's on the house," the woman replied.

Bruce smiled gratefully and asked for eggs and toast before he sat down next to Jane.

"Who's Tony?" Jane asked curiously.

"He's my husband," Bruce answered simply.

She reached over and touched the ring on his left hand.

"I saw the ring, but I assumed you had a wife," she said in surprise.

"Does it bother you that I'm married to a man?" he asked.

"No," she said simply, then she seemed to consider and added, "Do you think he'll like me?"

"I'm sure he will," he said with a smile.

"Now that we're out, am I going to live with you?" she asked earnestly, clearly hoping for an affirmative.

"I don't know," Bruce answered honestly.

"Do you not want to be my daddy?" Jane asked sadly.

"I want to be your daddy very much, but there are people who have to decide if I can," he explained.

"But if you want to, and I want you to, why would they not let you?" she inquired.

"They like for kids to be with relatives. So they might think it's better if you live with an aunt or uncle. Or maybe a grandma or grandpa," Bruce tried to clarify. Jane was a very smart girl, but she was only five, and he doubted that she would understand custodial law.

"But I don't have any other family," she whispered, leaning into Bruce's side.

After that, they ate in silence, and then made their way back onto Main Street.

"Bruce!" A voice called from the end of the street.

He looked up and saw Tony standing there, and ran to meet him. The two of them closed the space between them quickly, and captured each other in a desperate embrace and a relieved kiss.

"Tony," he said quietly as he pulled back and tugged the other man toward the diner. "This is Jane."

He gestured toward the little girl. Tony rose an eyebrow in question, but quickly schooled his face as Jane looked up at him.

"Are you Tony?" she asked, she considered a second and then added. "You must be. Daddy kissed you, and I can tell he loves you."

Tony briefly shot Bruce a questioning look, and Bruce answered with an 'I'll explain later' look. The whole exchange lasted about ten seconds, before Tony quickly shifted his gaze back to the small girl in front of him.

"Well that's good, because I love him too," he answered. "It's nice to meet you Jane. Will you be coming with us?"

"For now at least," Bruce answered cautiously.

"Okay, this way then," he said, motioning for them to follow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once they boarded the Quinjet, Bruce had helped Jane settle in for the night. He sat by her side on one of the benches and wrapped her in some of the blankets they kept onboard for emergencies, then moved to sit next to Tony once he was sure she was asleep. It didn't take long. It was late, and the escape had tired her out.

"Soooooo, what's going on with the kid?" Tony asked.

"The men who captured me were holding her there too. They killed her mother," Bruce explained.

"Does she have any other family?" Tony asked.

"She said that she didn't, but we'll have to look into that."

"Bruce, why did she call you 'daddy'?" 

"She asked me if she could. When they captured me, they threw me in a cell with her, and I took care of her. She said that I took care of her like a dad, so she had started thinking of me as her dad.

I don't know, Tony. I know we went through a trauma, but we grew really close. We made a little family, and if she really doesn't have any family, and there's any possible way, I want to adopt her. If that's okay with you," Bruce said as he looked over fondly at the sleeping form nestled in the soft, warm blankets on the opposite bench.

Tony watched him watch Jane for a while. Bruce's eyes were shining with pure love and adoration as he looked at the sleeping child; his posture affectionate and protective.

"Of course it's okay with me," Tony said.

On the other side of the jet, Jane made a distressed noise and pitched a little in her sleep. Bruce crossed to stand next to her in two quick steps, and then knelt down beside her and gently stroked her hair. Immediately she began to settle. Her brown eyes fluttered open, and she looked up adoringly at Bruce.

They spoke in hushed tones, and then she turned over and drifted back to sleep as Bruce gently rubbed her back, letting her know he was still there.

"You're really good with her," Tony commented, as he knelt beside his husband. "Does she know you want to adopt her?"

"She asked if she could come live with me, and if I would still be her daddy. I told her I wanted to, but that I needed permission," he said.

"I'll get my lawyers on this right away. Hell, I'll call in old favors if I have to. She's clearly meant to be your daughter," Tony said.

" _Our_ daughter," Bruce corrected.

"Our daughter," he agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three months later, Bruce, Tony and Jane made their way out of the courthouse with official, signed, adoption papers. Thanks to no small amount of string-pulling by Tony, tirelessly work by their lawyers, and Jane advocating for herself, (she let everyone from the judge, to the social worker, to the court secretary know how much she wanted Bruce and Tony to adopt her), the process had been started right away and expedited.

The three of them looked at each other with big grins plastered on their faces. They stopped at the bottom of the courthouse steps and shared a group hug. Then, they decided to go celebrate their new official family with pancakes at a nearby diner.


	4. Peter

"Surprise!"

The newly official family stood in shock, Jane hiding herself behind Bruce and shaking in fear, as they took in the sight in front of them.

"Told you a surprise party was a bad idea," Natasha whispered to Clint.

"Who doesn't like parties?" Clint grumbled back.

"Parties, parties are great," Tony said quietly as he fell in to stand next to the assassins. "But breaking into the homes of three highly paranoid people with PTSD, one of whom is a child who had terrible things happen to her last time someone broke in, and another of whom turns into a Hulk when he feels threatened, was not your best move Legolas."

"Told you," Natasha shot back.

"Just know I will let Hulk smash you if you do something like this again," Tony said light-heartedly, but with a little bit of an edge, before he moved on to go talk to Thor and Steve.

On the other side of the room Bruce was still comforting Jane. She stopped panicking as soon as she realized the penthouse was filled with people they knew, their friends, but she was still a little jumpy. Bruce spoke animatedly about the decorations, the cake, and all the people there to see her, and she cheered up enough to run off and greet people.

"Sorry, Bruce," Pepper said as she approached him. "I probably should have stopped this. Is Jane okay?"

"She'll be okay," Bruce reassured. "We know you all meant well."

He looked around the room at the brightly colored balloons and streamers. They had clearly put a lot of work into this. Then his eyes fell on the banner hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room.

"'Congratulations Science Family'? Whose idea was that?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure," Pepper answered. "It was already up when I got here."

"I made it," Clint said. "You guys are _so_ the science family. Tell me Jane doesn't science with you two down in the lab."

"'Science' isn't a verb," Bruce commented.

"It is for you guys. It's what you do most of the time. And that wasn't a denial," Clint countered, "Besides, I've seen the little science station you set up for her. The one over by the window with the telescope. Don't get me wrong. It's sweet. But you are the family that sciences together. The science family."

"You've been in the air ducts again, Robin Hood. You might find some surprises in it next time you decide to spy," Tony commented as he fell in by Bruce's side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Daddy, Papa, look what Steve gave me," Jane said, running over to her parents holding up a wooden frame.

In the frame was a charcoal drawing of the three of them, holding hands and looking up at the stars.

"That was very nice of him," Bruce commented.

"Can I hang it in my bedroom?" she asked.

"Of course," Tony answered. "We'll put it up as soon as the party's over."

He gently took the portrait and set it safely on the counter.

"Oh, I have something for you," she said, looking at her fathers.

She scampered to her room and returned holding up a sheet of paper. On the paper was a crayon drawing that was clearly supposed to be their family. One figure had a scribble of black on top of his head and glasses, another had a messily drawn goatee and a blue circle in the middle of his black shirt, and between the two of them was a smaller figure with long brown hair. There were also three blocky figures that looked like giant stick figure hands on one side of the page, and a black circle with a red dot in the center on the other side.

"I drew our family in school," she said, handing the paper to Bruce.

"Is that . . . " he started to ask as he pointed at the stick hands.

"DUM-E, You, and Butterfingers," she said pointing to each of the figures in turn; then she pointed to the circle, "oh, and JARVIS."

Clint barely contained a snort of laughter.

"See? She drew the robots as part of the family. Science family," he said firmly.

Tony ignored him in favor of taking the drawing from Bruce and going to hang it on the fridge.

As he stepped back to admire his daughter's work, Director Fury appeared beside him.

"Congratulations, Stark. I have to say, you're one of the last people I thought would be hanging a child's artwork on your fridge," he said.

"You and me both," Tony said honestly.

"You and Banner seem happy, though," he added.

"We are."

"Any plans to add to the family?" the director asked.

As far as Tony was concerned this was heading into weird territory. The first few comments might have been an attempt at being polite, but this? Why did he want to know? It didn't seem like something that would interest him, but if Tony knew one thing, it was that with Fury there was always some reason for everything he did; even if it wasn't immediately apparent.

He hesitated before he decided to answer honestly, "I don't know. I wouldn't be opposed to it, but we were turned down three times for adoption. The only reason we have Jane is because Bruce got kidnapped by some want-to-be terrorists who had kidnapped her too. I love Jane, and I'm grateful she's in our lives, but that's not an experience I'm eager to repeat."

"But you would consider adopting again?" Fury clarified.

"Sure," Tony answered, once again wondering what could possibly be Fury's motive.

"Good to know," he said as he faded back into the crowd.

The engineer shook his head slightly, unsettled by the exchange, and then walked over to join his family again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I had an interesting conversation with Fury at the party tonight," Tony said as he crawled into bed next to his husband.

"Oh?" Bruce prompted as he wrapped his arms around the other man.

"Yeah. He seems very interested in our family planning."

"What do you mean?"

"He asked if we were planning to expand our family, and when I said that we didn't know he asked if I would be willing to consider adopting again."

"Why do you think he wanted to know?"

"I have no idea, but he always has a reason. And they're usually pretty shady."

"Maybe he was just making conversation?"

"Do you really believe that, Bruce?"

"No, but what's the alternative?"

"Probably nothing good. I just wish I knew what he really wanted."

"Well, I give you and JARVIS permission to hack SHIELD to you heart's content, but right now we need to sleep," Bruce urged.

Tony nodded his agreement, and snuggled into Bruce's side, trying to not worry about it long enough to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It turns out that Tony didn't have to hack anything, because Fury called them the next morning shortly after they returned to the Tower from dropping Jane off at school.

"Sir, there's an incoming call from Director Fury," JARVIS informed.

"Put him through," Tony instructed.

"Good morning, Stark. Is Banner there?" Fury greeted brusquely.

"I'm here," Bruce said, moving so he was standing next to Tony.

"Good, I need to talk to you both."

"Before you do, what was with all the questions about our family planning last night," Tony broke in.

"That's why I called. SHIELD responded to an incident at an OsCorp lab a few nights ago. A want-to-be super-villain tried to steal something, and in the process killed several scientists, including both parents of a young two-year-old boy," Fury explained.

"Wait, are you asking us to adopt him?" Tony asked incredulously. "When did SHIELD get into the adoption business?"

"We're not, but there are, _special circumstances_ ," he said carefully. "He was in the lab during the attack, and he hid behind the enclosure where they were keeping the spiders that they were using in an experiment on radiation exposure. One of the spiders bit him. And there have been, well, side-effects."

"What do you mean side-effects?" Bruce asked.

"Climbing up walls, shooting webs, impossibly fast reflexes. At least that's what we've seen so far," Fury explained. "I think you can appreciate why we don't want just _anyone_ to adopt him."

"Why us?" Tony asked.

"Three months ago I would have never even considered you. But I've been watching you with your daughter, and you're very good parents. Stable, responsible, and caring. Things I never would have thought it was possible for Stark to be-"

"Hey!"

"-The point is, you're exactly what he needs. A stable, loving home. And it doesn't hurt that Dr. Banner understands firsthand what it's like to have your life transformed by a lab accident," Fury said honestly, which was a bit unnerving, because he was never honest.

"We need to talk to Jane first," Bruce spoke up. "We just finished adopting her. She might not be ready for a little brother."

"Bruce is right. We need to think about her first," Tony agreed.

"Let me know once you've decided," he said, signing off the call.

Tony and Bruce stared at each other for a long moment.

"Did he just offer to give us a super-powered toddler?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"That's what I heard," Bruce confirmed, still not believing it himself.

"Okaaaaay."

"Now what?" Bruce asked nervously.

"Like you said, we talk to Jane. And if she's okay with it, then we bring the kid home with us," Tony said matter-of-factly.

"You're okay with bringing another child into our family? Even though Jane's only lived with us for three months?"

"Technically, she's lived with you for four months, even if the first month was in a prison cell captured by terrorists. And, of course I'm okay with it. It might not be ideal, but neither was the way we added Jane to our family. We might just specialize in adopting kids under weird circumstances.

This boy needs someone, Bruce. And tell me, who would love him more than we would?"

"We still need to talk to Jane first."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That afternoon they picked up Jane from school and brought her to the diner to talk.

"Jane, your daddy and I need to talk to you," Tony said seriously, after they ordered.

She seemed slightly nervous when she heard his serious tone, but she nodded her head that he should continue.

"How would you feel about being a big sister?" Tony asked.

"A big sister?" Jane questioned. "I didn't think two daddies could have babies."

Tony quickly brought a hand to his mouth to cover his laugh, and Bruce took over the conservation.

"We can't, but you know how we became your daddies?" he asked. 

She nodded, so he continued, "Well, there's a little boy whose looking for a family like you were."

Jane frowned, and furrowed her brow.

"You don't have to say that you want to be a big sister," Bruce started to backtrack. "There are other nice families he could live with."

"No," she said shaking her head. "He should live with us. You're good daddies, and if he lost his mommy or daddy he'll be sad. He'll need good daddies like you."

"And a good big sister like you," Tony added.

Jane beamed. 

"Do you think he'll like me?" she asked.

"How could he not? He'll love you. I'm sure you'll be a great big sister," Tony said, reaching over the table to tap her nose. 

She smiled, and the rest of the meal was spent with her excitedly talking about all of the things she was going to do with her brother. The list was quite extensive, and Bruce couldn't help but smile at her excitement.

Later that night, they called Fury and accepted his offer. He said he would come by the next day with the child.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were a lot of things to get ready before Fury came, and Jane insisted on being involved every step of the way. She clearly took her new role as big sister very seriously.

She went with Bruce and Tony when they went to the store to buy a toddler bed, and informed them that she thought her new brother would probably like the red and blue one best. Smiling at her enthusiasm, they took her advice.

Soon the bedroom next to Jane's was furnished, and she was finishing the room up by hanging a crayon drawing she had made of the night sky on one of the walls.

"The room is ready," Jane declared, stepping back to take it in.

"Good work," Tony complimented, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"It looks nice," Bruce added.

"Sirs, Director Fury is in the elevator," JARVIS broke in.

"Thank you, J," Tony said, making his way towards the living room with Bruce and Jane on his heels. 

They ended up standing in a line a little ways back from the elevator. They looked like a small receiving line, and Bruce hoped that it wouldn't look imposing to the toddler.

The elevator door opened, and Director Fury strode out with a floppy-haired toddler following behind him, half-hidden behind by the director's cape. His blue eyes were wide, his hands clutched tight to his little duffle bag, and he seemed slightly overwhelmed by the sight in from of him.

"This is Peter Parker," Fury introduced.

Jane stepped forward so she was directly in front of the scared-looking little boy and said, "Hi Peter, I'm Jane. I'm really excited that you're going to live with us."

She held out her hand towards him, and he looked a little reluctant, but then took it. Then she gently led him by his hand over to where Bruce and Tony were standing.

"This is my daddy," she said indicating Bruce. She pointed next to him and said, "and that's my papa."

"Hello, Peter," Bruce said with a little wave.

"I'll leave you to get acquainted," Fury said as he backed out of the room.

Bruce nodded his acknowledgement and then turned his attention back to Peter. 

"Are you hungry? It's just about time for dinner."

Peter nodded shyly.

"Daddy cooks really good food," Jane said excitedly. "Sometimes he cooks things he learned how to make in India."

"I was thinking of keeping it simple. Do you like grilled cheese and tomato soup?" Bruce questioned.

Peter nodded again. Still seeming not quite sure what to make of the men in front of him.

"Great! I'll get started," Bruce said with a smile.

"Can we show Peter his room, Papa?" Jane asked Tony, barely containing her excitement.

"I don't see why not. Come on Peter, we'll put your stuff in your room," Tony called amicably.

"Your room's right next to mine," Jane chattered. "I helped them get it ready for you. There's a lot of red and blue. I hope you like those colors."

Peter walked into the room, and his eyes swept over the bed and the red toy box placed at the foot of it. He studied the dresser in the corner, and the door to the closet. Then he saw the drawing hanging on his wall, and his gaze lingered there.

"Oh," Jane said, seeing where he was looking. "I drew that for you. I hope you like it. I really like the stars. Looking at them always makes me feel better, and I thought it might make you feel better too."

Peter smiled shyly at her, and she beamed.

"I can make you another one if you want. Or we could make some drawings together," she offered.

Peter nodded and timidly said, "Thank you."

"That's what sisters do . . . I think," Jane answered.

Tony stood in the doorway and watched the interaction unfold with a mix of pride and affection. Jane was going to be a great sister, and that just might make things a little easier for Peter, who still seemed a little skiddish.

"Alright, you two, time to wash hands before dinner," Tony instructed, and led them down the hall to the bathroom.

Jane kept a fairly steady stream of chatter going with Peter throughout the meal, and he added a word here or there, but seemed content just to listen. Both Bruce and Tony noticed the way he moved his chair closer to Jane's when he sat down, and smiled as she talked endlessly. He clearly already felt a connection with her.

When dinner ended, Jane ran to her room to grab some crayons and paper, and then she and Peter stationed themselves on the living room floor to draw. Bruce and Tony looked in on them as they cleaned up the kitchen.

"Jane's sure taken to Peter," Tony commented.

"And he seems to have taken to her too," Bruce added. "This just might work."

"Of course it will work. You're a great dad, I'm learning from you, and Jane's a natural big sister. Why wouldn't it work?" Tony stated confidently.

"Hopefully you're right," Bruce said cautiously.

They were about to enter the living room, but something about Jane's tone stopped them. Instead they stood behind the swinging kitchen door and listened.

"I know you're probably really sad right now. I was really sad when my mom died. But things will get better. Daddy helped me feel better, and he and Papa will help you too. They're good daddies. They'll take care of you. And I'll be here too. I'm your sister now, and I'll take care of you," she said gently.

"Are you sure she's only five?" Tony whispered in Bruce's ear.

"Isn't she sweet?" Bruce whispered back.

Deciding they'd lurked at the doorway long enough, they pushed through the door and into the living room. Immediately, Jane descended on them, hugging them both. Then she stood in front of them, looking like she was ready to deliver a speech.

"Tomorrow is family outing day," she said.

They nodded in agreement. Shortly after they had brought Jane back to the Tower with them they had decided that every Saturday they would do something as a family. It could be as simple as going to the park, or as elaborate as a day trip out of state, but they agreed they would leave the Tower and do something all together.

"We were going to go to the planetarium, but Peter told me he likes animals. Can we go to the zoo instead?" she asked.

"Of course," Bruce said, beaming at his daughter with pride over the way she was treating her new sibling.

"What's your favorite animal, Peter?" Tony asked as he settled on the floor next to the toddler.

"G'affe" he answered certainly.

"I like zebras," Jane chipped in.

"Kangaroos were always my favorite," Bruce stated.

"Giraffes are cool. I like their long necks, but I think lions are my favorite," Tony said conversationally.

The ice was broken, and the four of them talked about animals while Peter drew a crayon-created menagerie and Jane re-created the night sky on a piece of paper. They kept talking until it was time for bed. Then Bruce and Tony settle each of the children in their bedrooms in turn, being sure to tell Peter that if he needed anything all he had to do was ask, and then going to their own bedroom to get ready for bed.

No sooner had they laid down, then they heard screaming wails coming from Peter's room. Bruce immediately got to his feet and ran for the toddler's bedroom. Slowing in front of the door, he opened it gently and made his way slowly over to the bed.

"Peter?" He asked, trying to determine how awake the young child was.

The boy sat up in bed and met Bruce's eyes with his own terrified blue ones.

Bruce closed the distance between them, and slowly reached out to hug him, giving him plenty of time to move away. He didn't. He buried his head in Bruce's shoulder, and clung to him tightly, grabbing little fistfuls of Bruce's shirt and holding on for dear life.

"'M scared," Peter whispered, as he buried his face deeper into Bruce.

"You're safe here," Bruce soothed, as he rocked the two of them gently.

"Don' leave," Peter pleaded weakly.

Bruce considered briefly, and then picked up the boy and headed back to his own bedroom. Peter had just lost his parents, so it only made sense that he would want someone close. Besides, the bed in the master bedroom was ridiculously huge, and would easily accommodate Bruce, Tony and the slight boy.

"Hey, Petey," Tony called as the pair entered in the bedroom.

Bruce tried to lay Peter down in the bed, but he was quite literally stuck to him. Little globs of web had formed between the little fist and his shirt. Rather than try and pry the boy off, he decided to just climb into bed, cradling the little boy up against his chest. This seemed to comfort the child, because after a few minutes he fell asleep. 

"He's stuck on you," Tony chuckled softly from the other side of the bed.

Bruce smiled down at his little hanger-on, "There are worse things."

"Bruce, I was thinking. It was really sweet of Jane to offer to go to the zoo instead of the planetarium. She's been excited to go there for weeks," Tony said.

Bruce nodded his agreement.

"So I was thinking that maybe after the zoo we could do something else so that Jane could still see the stars," Tony explained.

"The zoo and then the planetarium?" Bruce asked.

"I had something else in mind," Tony said before he explained his plan to Bruce.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wake up, Daddy! Wake up, Papa!" Jane called as she ran into the bedroom the next morning.

Tony groaned, and hid his head under a pillow. Bruce sighed, and then climbed out of bed, Peter still stuck to his front.

Jane frowned.

"Daddy, is Peter stuck on you?" she asked in confusion.

"Yes," he answered simply as he tried to extract himself from the sticky grip.

"Why?" 

"Because your brother has sticky little hands that help him to climb walls, and he can spin webs like a spider," Tony answered.

"Oh. Okay," Jane accepted without further question.

Bruce shot Tony a look from the other side of the room that said 'there were better ways to handle that,' and Tony answered with a shrug that said 'it worked.'

The family had a breakfast of pancakes, and then piled into the car to go to the zoo.

At the zoo they made sure to see the giraffes first, spending a fair amount of time watching the towering creatures pluck leaves from the trees with their long, purple tongues. Then, they found the zebra enclosure, followed by the kangaroos and finally the lions.

There was a crowd around the lion enclosure, and they were jostled as they tried to approach. Bruce looked down and saw that Peter was no longer holding his hand. He tried to keep calm as he looked around the crowd for him, but he grew more and more nervous each second he was unable to find him.

Then he realized in horror that Peter had climbed the wall next to the lion's habitat and was edging his way closer to the enclosure. He pushed his way through the crowd to get closer, and called out to the boy. Tony heard the shouts, turned and saw what was happening, and quickly ran towards Bruce pulling Jane behind him.

"Peter, get down!" Bruce called.

"Come back here right now!" Tony added, falling in by Bruce's side.

The boy looked down where the two men were standing, hesitated for a moment, and then complied. As soon as he was down on the ground they raced over to him, and Bruce grabbed him gently by his shoulders.

"Don't ever do that again!" Bruce said firmly. "You could have been hurt!"

"Peter, what were you thinking?!?" Tony blurted out in worry.

"You're mad," Peter said, tears springing to his eyes. "I did something wrong, and made you angry. Do you not wanna be my daddies anymore? Are you gonna send me away?"

"Peter," Bruce said, gently cupping a hand to the boy's cheek. "We're not angry. We were scared. We don't want you to get hurt."

"And I promise we will never get so mad we don't want to be your dads," Tony pitched in as he kneeled beside them. 

"Really?" Peter asked.

"Really," the men said, capturing him in a hug between them.

"Now, just don't climb any more walls. At least not when we're not at home, okay?" Tony said.

Peter nodded.

"Okay, where to now?" Bruce asked, his tone lighter.

"Penguins!" Peter instructed excitedly.

They spent the day wandered through the zoo, stopping to look at all the different animal. Jane marveled at the brightly colored peacocks, and Peter imitated the way they strut. They chattered excitedly about the way the monkeys jumped from tree to tree and hung upside down by their tails. Peter was captivated by the pacing tiger, and Jane was fascinated by the seals. She stood for a long while watching them swim, and barking back at them!

Laughing and smiling they piled back into the car. Tony turned the key, and they pulled into traffic. They had only travelled a few blocks when Jane spoke up in confusion.

"Isn't home that way?" she asked pointing in the opposite direction from where they had turned.

"Yes, but we're not going back to the Tower," Tony answered conspiratorially.

"Where are we going?" she pressed.

"You'll see," he said evasively, his eyes twinkling and smile teasing.

They drove out of the city, past the suburbs, and onto winding roads with fields on either side. They stopped by a meadow, and clambered out of the car. Tony took Jane and Peter by the hands, and Bruce dug a picnic basket and blanket out of the trunk of the car.

He laid out the blanket, and passed out sandwiches as they all settle onto the large piece of cloth.

"I love picnics," Jane declared as she bit into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Peter nodded his agreement as he munched on a carrot stick.

"How do you feel about camping?" Tony asked with a smirk.

"Camping?" Jane asked.

"You can't see the stars very well in the city, but tonight it's going to be the four of us, under a sky full of stars," Tony explained. "Well, and they'll be a tent too, because we wouldn't want to sleep outside all night."

Jane's eyes grew wide in delight, and she ran over and hugged both Bruce and Tony in turn.

Bruce and Tony pitched the tent and set up the sleeping blankets inside it while the children chased each other through the field nearby. Then they gathered on the picnic blanket and watched the sunset. 

The temperature dropped, and the four of them huddled together under a large blanket, watching the last of the sunlight drop below the horizon. Then they laid back and marveled at the array of stars that covered the night sky like a curtain.

Jane started pointing out stars to Peter and telling him their names and whatever else she knew about them. She was so excited she didn't even notice when Peter stopped responding back because he'd fallen asleep nestled between her and Tony.

Despite her enthusiasm, Jane flagged soon after, and Bruce and Tony carried the sleeping youngsters over to the tent, and settled in for the night; all four of them nestled together in the nylon enclosure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few weeks were a learning period for the family. Bruce and Tony had to learn how to balance work with a toddler who, unlike Jane, didn't go to school during the day. 

They alternated days of staying home with Peter, though sometimes one of them would let the other work a few days in a row if an experiment was time-sensitive. 

Bruce always stayed home on days Tony had business meetings, and sometimes they would bring Peter into the lab with them if they weren't working on anything dangerous or that might explode, (which was typically only when he was drafting a new idea in Tony's case). 

Some days it was hard to find balance, but Peter was clearly starting to feel safe and at home, and that made it all worthwhile. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Clint rolled his eyes as he looked down on the family, settled on the couch watching an animal documentary after dinner on a Wednesday night. 

Peter chattered away excitedly about elephants. He was a very curious child and loved science, especially animal science, just as much as the others.

"Look, the momma elephant is holding the baby elephant's trunk," Peter said pointing at the screen. "I think that means 'I love you' in elephant."

"Probably," Bruce said with a smile.

Peter leaned his face into his shoulder, moved his arm up and down in front of his face, and then briefly intertwined his arm with Bruce's, Tony's and Jane's in turn.

"What are you doing, silly boy?" Tony asked, tousling his hair.

"Saying 'I love you' in elephant," he answered sincerely.

Clint had seen enough. Muttering about sickeningly sweet science families under his breath he continued his journey through the vents.


	5. Jemma and Fitz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided for my purposes Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz are twins with the surname FitzSimmons, because why not?
> 
>  
> 
> **Warning: brief mentions of child abuse, victim blaming**

"Today we are joined by scientists, innovators, and heroes, Tony Stark-Banner and Dr. Bruce Banner-Stark. Hello, gentlemen," Tracy Todd said with her huge talk-show host smile.

"Good afternoon. It's nice to be here. Thanks for having us," Tony said.

"So this week we've been talking about adoption on 'Consider This'; a topic that is very dear to both of you. You've adopted two children, correct?" she inquired.

"Yes, we've adopted a little girl who's almost six and a two-and-a-half year old boy," Tony confirmed.

"This is a fairly recent thing isn't it? How long have they lived with you, and how is it going?"

Tony briefly met Bruce's eye to indicate that he should answer this question, so he tried to avoid fidgeting in his seat as he replied, "Our daughter has been with us six months, and our son came to live with us three months ago. It's been amazing. They may not have been with us long, but I already can't imagine my life without them."

"What are your biggest concerns as a parent?" 

"Really, the same as any parent. I want my children to be safe and happy. I also want them to know that they're loved, and that no matter what happens I will continue to love them. And I hope that they learn to be true to themselves and grow up to be the best people that they can be," Bruce answered sincerely.

Tony nodded his agreement before adding his own comment, "Honestly, there are times I want to wrap them in bubble wrap and keep them from ever leaving home, because I know the world can be a bad place, and I never want to see them get hurt. It's hard to see your child in pain. Physically or emotionally. But I know I can't protect them from everything. So I want to protect them from what I can, and teach them how to deal with the hurts that I can't protect them from."

"Do you feel like your concerns or challenges as adoptive parents are different from parents who have biological children?"

"I think that for the most part it's the same. A parent is a parent. We all want the things we just talked about for our children, whether they're genetically related to us or not," Bruce answered. "I suppose that there can be the additional challenge with adoption of dealing with why their biological parents are not in the picture, but I think that even with that factor that by and large children are children and parents are parents despite how the children came into their lives."

"It seems to me that you are both incredibly loving parents, just from the little I've seen right now. But not everyone seems to agree. As you perhaps know, Marty Miller has been saying on his program, 'The Voice of Reason,' that you shouldn't be allowed to have children because quote "no social worker in their right mind should have placed an innocent child with an angry monster like the Hulk, much less two children. This is insanity." What is your response to that?" Tracy asked. She schooled her voice, but she was clearly hungry for an answer, anticipating ratings-boosting controversy.

"First, I am offended that he called a _hero_ , who has helped saved countless lives in New York and other places, a monster," Tony said evenly but vehemently. "Second, I know that Hulk would never hurt our children, because he loves them. He has in fact even protected our daughter on one occasion."

"So Dr. Banner, you aren't worried that the Hulk will harm your children?" Ms. Todd pressed.

"No. The Hulk and I are different in many ways, but when I love someone, so does he. Just like I know Hulk will always protect Tony, I know that he will protect my children."

"What about the allegations that Dr. Banner is an unfit father because his father was a poor parental role model? Or that since he was abused as a child he is too likely to abuse your children to be allowed to adopt?"

"That really made me angry," Tony answered, tightening his grip on the chair he was sitting in. "What happened to Bruce when he was a child was not his fault. Nor is child abuse ever the fault of the child. That Mr. Miller is willing to blame Bruce for the behavior of his father, and I use that term in the loosest sense possible because a real father would never abuse his child, is disgusting. And it sends the wrong message to survivors of abuse nationwide. Second, it is completely absurd that my husband would ever raise a hand to our children or any child. He is one of the most gentle, loving people I know."

"If you don't mind me getting personal, Dr. Banner, do you feel that having been abused as child affects the way you behave as a father?"

Bruce paused to consider uncomfortably while Tony shot him a look that said _you don't have to answer_.

Finally he spoke up and said, "I think it really helped me understand the great impact a parent can have on your life. My father's impact on me was extremely negative, and I think that makes me even more resolved to make sure my impact on my children is positive."

"Well, there you have it. Thank you for being with us today, and best of luck to both of you and your children. This is Tracy Todd, and I'm asking you to 'consider this,' she concluded the interview.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce sighed once he and Tony were finally back in their car after the interview. Public appearances were not his specialty and he avoided them at all costs when possible. The only reason he had agreed to do this interview was because Marty Miller's petition to have Child Protective Services take away their children was trending and gaining signatures. 

Pepper felt the situation needed to be addressed, and that the best way to fight his allegations was to let people see Bruce talk about his children. She claimed no one could hear him talk about Jane and Peter for more than a few seconds without realizing just how much he loved them, and well, she was the one who was an expert at press, so he decided to trust her judgment.

"Do you think that was enough?" Bruce said as he turned toward Tony.

He was trying not to let his worry show through, but he knew he wasn't succeeding based on the gentle way Tony looked at him. He put a reassuring hand on Bruce's shoulder and briefly squeezed it.

"Of course. Anyone who was being honest about what they saw would have seen immediately that you are a loving and caring dad," Tony soothed.

"I hope so. Tony, the thought that they might try to . . . " he started before he paused to swallow around the lump forming in his throat.

Tony wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug and whispered in his ear, "Hey, that's not going to happen, okay? It wasn't very likely to happen in the first place, despite what that asshole said. But now anyone who says you're anything less than a great father will look like an idiot."

Bruce nodded weakly into Tony's shoulder as he worked to pull himself together. Little did he know that his words had deeply touched a man who he had never met, and that that would lead to a huge change in the Banner-Stark family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sirs, there is a call for you from the front security desk of the Tower," JARVIS informed them.

"Put it through, J," Tony said with a yawn as he stretched in bed. It was Saturday, and far too early for this.

"Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, you two should get down here as soon as possible. There's something you need to see," the front desk security officer said, sounding a little frazzled.

"We'll be right down," Bruce responded as he exchanged a curiosity-filled glance with Tony. What would require both of them so early?

They dressed quickly and made their way to the security desk. As they approached they saw a large laundry basket set on top of the desk, and as they got closer still they realized that the seeming pile of clothes actually was two sleeping babies wrapped in blankets.

"What . . . " Bruce started to ask but trailed off. He wasn't quite sure what he wanted to ask.

"There was a note addressed to the two of you left with the basket," the security officer said as she handed them a folded sheet of paper.

Bruce took it and read it as Tony read over his shoulder.

_Dear Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner,_

_I leave with you Leo and Jemma FitzSimmons. They are three months old and they were orphaned yesterday when their father died in a car crash. Their mother passed during childbirth._

_Their only remaining family is an uncle, who is an abusive drunk, and as their father's best friend I could not bear the thought of them living there. I would take them myself, but my lifestyle is not suited to children, and I would not be doing right by them._

_You two, however, impressed their father with your interview on 'Consider This' earlier this week. He said that he would hope all adoptive couples were as loving and caring as you. I hope that you are now able to extend that love and care._

_I beg you to find a place for these children in your hearts and home. I beg you as a man trying to do right by a friend and what that friend treasured most in the world, his children._

"Did anyone see who dropped off the basket?" Tony asked when he finished reading the note.

"No, sir. I also reviewed the security footage, but it appears whoever left the children here was careful to stay out of range of the cameras or in the shadows. The most we ever see clearly is an arm in a leather jacket."

Tony nodded as he took in the new information. It was unlikely they would find whoever left the children. It also seemed like even if they did, this person had no legal claim to them, or any desire to raise them.

"What do we do now?" Bruce asked uncertainly as he looked at the the sleeping bundles.

Almost as if they knew they were being talked about, they stirred and both started to cry.

Without thinking about it, Bruce picked up the nearest child and cradled her to his chest. He gently bounced and rocked her while he tried to soothe her crying. Tony followed his lead and did the same with the other screaming baby.

"I think we take them up to the penthouse with us. At least for now," Tony responded. "J, we need two cribs, bottles, formula, diapers and whatever else babies need ASAP."

"Of course sir," JARVIS responded immediately.

"How long are you planning on them staying?" Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know. I'm just being prepared. Now let's go upstairs before we continue this conversation," Tony said evasively. 

Bruce nodded and the pair made their way over to the elevator, each carrying a precious bundle in their arms. When the doors shut, Bruce spoke again.

"Look, Tony, I know you. You're thinking that we should take these two in and adopt them," he raised his hand as Tony opened his mouth to protest. "Don't bother denying it. I know you're thinking it. And part of me agrees with you, but Tony, what about Jane and Peter? They've only lived with us six and three months respectively. Do you really think they're ready to have two new siblings?"

"Jane did fine when Peter came to live with us," Tony protested.

"All the more reason to consider carefully. One sibling is one thing, but two more for a total of three over the course of three months? Don't you think that's asking a lot of our five-year-old daughter?"

"I think our Janey would love them. Just like she loves Peter. I don't think she'd bat an eye at the change. She's very adaptable."

"What about Peter? He's finally falling into a routine with us; should we really break it?"

"How much do you think it would break the routine? We would still alternate days at home. There would just be three kids to take care of instead of one, and more diaper-changing and bottle-feeding involved."

"You say that like it's nothing. Bottle-feeding and diaper-changing require a lot of attention. Attention that we'll be taking away from our other children."

"I just think we should consider. Obviously whoever left the kids trusted us to raise them, and things happen for a reason Bruce."

On one level Bruce couldn't help but agree, but on the other hand he couldn't help but think about how fast things were moving. A little over seven months ago they had been denied for adoption by the third social worker, and now they were considering adopting children three and four after they appeared on their doorstep. It was overwhelming for him, so he could only imagine how Jane and Peter would feel, and the last thing he wanted to do was make things uncomfortable for his children. They needed to come first, no matter how much compassion he felt for the twins.

As they stepped out of the elevator they nodded their thanks to Steve, who had come up to watch the children in case they awoke before Bruce and Tony returned. He smiled and got up from the couch to head back to whatever it was he did on a Saturday morning.

He stopped short when he realized what was in the geniuses' arms.

"Are you already adding on to your family again?" he asked in surprise. 

"Someone left them in front of the building with a note addressed to us. We're bringing them up here while we decide what to do," Bruce informed.

Steve nodded, but there was something in his eyes that suggested that he had something to say and was holding back.

"Let me know if you need anything," he said as he climbed into the elevator.

"Thanks," Tony called after him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the supplies Tony had requested arrived, Bruce had shown Tony how to prepare a bottle. As soon as the bottles were ready, they had settled themselves on the couch, one baby each, and started feeding the twins.

"G'morning Daddy! G'morning Papa!" Jane said cheerfully as she bounded into the living room. 

She ran over to give them each a big hug, and only then saw the little figures in their arms.

"Whose babies are they?" she asked curiously. She knew Daddy's friend Betty had a baby, but she lived far away, and she couldn't think of any of her parents' other friends who had kids.

"We don't know. They were left outside the Tower," Tony explained. "Their mommy and daddy died and we're trying to find them a home."

"Why couldn't they stay here? Peter and I came here after our mommies and daddies died," she said earnestly.

"Would you want them to stay here?" Bruce questioned.

"Why not?" she said with a shrug. "I know you and Papa would love all of us, and I like being a big sister."

Tony shot Bruce a quick look that amounted to "I told you so," and Bruce answered it with a look that said, "not so fast, she's only one of our children."

"That's sweet, sweetheart," Bruce said. "Are you ready for breakfast?"

He finished feeding Jemma and laid her in one of the cribs, (which were currently set up over by the window in the living room), while he spoke.

"Yes. Can I have oatmeal?"

"Sure."

Bruce padded into the kitchen to start breakfast, and Jane sat down next to Tony on the sofa. She looked down on the squirming infant with interest, and leaned into her father to get closer.

"What are their names?" she asked.

"Jemma is over in the crib," Tony said with a slight head jerk in that direction. "And this is Fitz."

"Leo," Bruce called from the kitchen.

"Leo is an awful name. It makes him sound like a stupid, pretty boy or an astrology star sign, which is equally stupid. Fitz is just better in every way," Tony called.

Bruce sighed loudly from the other room, and Tony clearly understood his meaning, ("don't go assigning nicknames to kids that might not even be staying"), but he ignored it. He was going to continue talking about the superiority of using the name "Fitz" just to annoy Bruce, when Peter stumbled into the room.

"Morning, Peter," Jane said cheerfully.

"Morning," Peter said sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"Ready for breakfast, Petey?" Tony asked.

Peter nodded.

"Oatmeal okay?" 

Peter nodded again.

"Bruce, make sure to make enough for Peter. The sleeping prince has awoken," Tony called into the kitchen.

Bruce called back an acknowledgement. Meanwhile, Peter sank on the couch next to Jane, and looked questioningly at the tiny person on his Papa's lap.

"That's Fitz," Jane explained. "He and his sister Jemma," she pointed over at the crib, "need a new family. Their mommy and daddy died."

Peter's eyes went wide, and he looked very sad.

"Don't worry, Petey," Tony said, ruffling his hair as he walked by him to put Fitz down in his crib. "We'll make sure they're taken care of."

"I think they should stay with us," Jane whispered to Peter conspiratorially.

"Breakfast is ready," Bruce called.

Tony herded the kids to the table, and they ate their breakfast together. Jane chattered happily about anything and everything like she usually did. Her fathers smiled and listened to her ramble, occasionally trying to steer the conversation so that Peter could join in. Only today Peter was quieter than usual, and his eyes stared down at his bowl throughout most of the meal.

This didn't go unnoticed by his parents, who asked Jane to draw at the table after breakfast so that they could talk to him alone.

"What's wrong, Peter?" Bruce asked gently.

Peter looked at him with big, sad, blue eyes, but said nothing.

"Whatever it is, you can tell us, Petey," Tony added.

"Are the babies staying?" Peter asked hesitantly, almost bitterly.

"I don't know. Do you want them to stay?" Bruce said levelly.

"No," Peter answered sulkily.

"Why not, Petey?" Tony asked.

"Because I don't want your hearts to break," he answered seriously.

"What do you mean? Why would our hearts break?" 

His son's answer confused him, but he seemed very concerned, so Tony thought he should dig deeper.

"I heard Uncle Steve telling Aunt Pepper that it was okay for you to adopt me so fast after you adopted Jane because there was room for both of us in your hearts. If you try to add the babies too there won't be enough space. Your hearts will break and I won't have any daddies anymore," Peter said anxiously.

Tony had to hide as smile as he turned to Bruce, his eyes begging his husband to explain.

"Uncle Steve wasn't talking about our real hearts," Bruce tried to explain, briefly resting a hand on his chest before continuing to gesture to try and help make his point. "When he said hearts he meant love. What Uncle Steve meant was that we have enough love for both of you. Love is different than most things. There isn't a limited amount of space, or less as you share it with more people."

"What do you mean Daddy?" his son questioned.

"Do you me love me, Peter?" he asked, trying a new approach.

"Silly Daddy, of course I love you," Peter said, surprised to be asked.

"Do you love Papa?" the physicist said, clearly working toward something.

"Yes."

"Do you love me any less because you love Papa?" 

"No. I love you both lots and lots and lots and lots."

"How about Jane?"

"I love her, too."

"And Uncle Steve, and Uncle Rhodey, and Aunt Pepper, and Uncle Thor, and Uncle Clint, and Aunt Natasha?"

"Yes, I love them too."

"That's nine people Peter, but you still love them all lots. The same is true for me and Papa. We'll still love you just as much whether it's just you and Jane, or if you get ten more brothers and sisters," Bruce concluded.

"Oh," Peter said, his face lighting up as he understood. "Then Jemma and Fitz should stay."

"Are you sure, Peter? We can find them another good family," Bruce asked cautiously. He hadn't been trying to pressure him into this; just explain what he had overheard.

"But _our_ family is good, and we would love them lots," Peter said.

"That's true, Petey," Tony agreed.

"Why don't you go play with Jane for a little bit? Daddy and Papa need to talk," Bruce said gently.

"You did a great job, babe. I wouldn't have been able to explain that well. I'm really lucky to have you as my co-parent," Tony said, throwing an arm around Bruce's shoulder after Peter had left.

Bruce watched his son and daughter drawing at the dining room table and replied, "Then why do I feel like I manipulated my two-year-old into wanting baby siblings."

"You didn't. You just explained what might happen for him, and once he understood he was okay with it," Tony dismissed.

"Are you sure about that?" Bruce asked, as he turned searchingly towards his husband.

"Positive," he replied simply before he leaned in to kiss him. "I think we can do this. Jane and Peter are onboard, and we're good parents. I don't think they showed up on our doorstep for no reason. We're completely ready for this. Well . . . Almost completely ready. I've never changed a diaper before, but I'm sure you have, and you could teach me how?"

As if on cue, a tandem of wails broke out.

"They probably need changing," Bruce said with a smirk. "I guess there's no time like the present."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, Tony and SHIELD used their connections, and the adoption went through in record time. So, the rest of the Avengers decided to throw another party, because, they did it for Jane and Peter, and why not?

Clint re-hung his banner, (which he insisted be present at every party), Steve and Pepper set up snacks and cake, Thor and Natasha hung streamers and balloons, and soon the penthouse was ready.

The completely prepared family, (no more surprise parties), walked into the penthouse, and celebrated with their friends. Jane kept Thor and Natasha amused with her chattering, (Natasha merely tolerating her, and Thor hanging on her every word as if she were reciting epic poetry); Peter and Clint started climbing walls until Bruce noticed and put a stop to it, and Steve and Pepper cooed over Jemma and Fitz, (which Bruce had conceded would be what they would call their son), while they talked to Bruce and Tony.

Steve walked into the other room and returned with a new framed drawing of the family; this one with all six of them sitting together on the penthouse sofa. 

"Thank you, Steve. It's beautiful," Bruce said gratefully as he carefully took the frame from him.

"Can we just make you the official artist of the Banner-Stark family? I mean, you're already drawing us all the time. You've made three portraits in last six months or so. It'd be like having a royal painter, only we're not royalty and you use charcoal," Tony commented.

"I think I'll pass. I'd like to try to expand to drawing something else, though I suppose that's dependent on whether or not you two can stop adding new children to your family every time you turn around," Steve quipped back.

"Hey, don't look at me!" Tony said in mock-offense. "I told Bruce before we got married that once people knew what a good dad he was they'd bring him every kid that needed a home for three states over. Is it my fault if I'm right?"

"I think we're done," Bruce said, ignoring Tony. "At least for a while."

"You still never know," Tony protested. "It's not like we planned any of this so far."

They laughed, knowing that there was really no way they ever could have foreseen the circumstances that lead them to form their family, and spent the rest of the evening enjoying the company of their friends as they celebrated the odd circumstances that had brought them together.


	6. Conclusion

"What's wrong?" Tony asked pulling Bruce from his reverie.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about our kids, and how lucky we are," Bruce answered.

"That we are," Tony agreed, leaning in to steal a kiss. "I wouldn't trade our family for the world."

"Well, you pretty much already own it anyway," Bruce mocked.

"Shush. Besides you own half of everything I do," Tony shot back.

They kissed again, and settled back into their bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Avengers had assembled in the Seward Elementary cafeteria for Jane's first grade play. Pepper sat with them, Peter on her lap, and smirked as she watched the scene unfolding in front of her.

The make-shift curtain was still down pre-performance, and Tony was freaking out, as Bruce sat relatively calmly with both of the twins swaddled up against him.

"Did she seem nervous?" Tony asked anxiously.

"When has Jane ever been afraid to talk? Tony, she's fine," Bruce soothed.

"Talking to family is one thing, but it front of people . . What if she gets stage-fright?" he pressed nervously, standing up to pace in front of their folding chairs.

"Then she gets stage-fright. It'll be fine, Tony. Sit down," his husband urged.

The rest of them smirked as Tony sat down but continued to fret, shaking his leg and worrying a lip. It was the most nervous any of them had ever seen him in public.

The curtain lifted and the play started. It took place on a leaf in a meadow, with each of the students portraying different insects. Jane started the play as a caterpillar, dressed in a black sweatsuit with green felt covering it, and two pairs of black legs attached to the sides to go with her own black sleeve covered arms. 

Part way through the play Jane went off stage when she "built a cocoon." Then she emerged a few minutes later with the green felt removed, revealing the black sweatpants and sweat shirt beneath. On her back were two glittery, rhinestone cover wings which were attached to bracelets on her wrists with fishing line, so she was able to flap her wings when she moved her arms.

Jane remembered all of her lines, and seemed to be enjoying herself, much to her Papa's relief. The costume also held up well and looked great, to her Daddy's pleasure, since he had worked very hard to put it together. The rest of them just enjoyed how cute Jane and her classmates were.

Soon the play was over, and the children took a bow and ran out to their respective families.

"What did you think?" Jane said excitedly.

"You were great," Bruce answered immediately.

"You did an amazing job, and I love your costume," Tony said, looking briefly at Bruce as he complimented the costume.

Jane beamed, and got a hug from each of her fathers in turn. Then she was surrounded by the rest of her extended family.

"Good job, kid," Clint said, ruffling her hair.

"You did well," Natasha added with a nod.

"Well done, Jane," Pepper chipped in.

"It was a most joyous and epic tale," Thor boomed approvingly.

"You were the most beautiful butterfly I've ever seen," Steve commented as he gave her a hug. "I was thinking about drawing you. You look like a work of art." He held up a hand. "But no, Tony. I still will not be your family portrait artist."

The assembled group laughed, and walked out of the cafeteria to head back to the Tower in high spirits. Bruce followed a step behind the group, and thought about how his family was so much more than he ever could have imagined, and he was grateful.


End file.
